Loan contract for ‘Azerspace-1’ ranked among best contracts of year

 “GTR: Trade Finance News” magazine ranked the contact, under which Azerkosmos JSC  in 2011 received  $98,000,000  loan from the French  “COFACE”  Export Agency in order to launch the first Azerbaijan’s telecommunication satellite Azerspace-1 into orbit, among the best contracts signed in 2011. 

According to an article published in the magazine, Azercosmos, in spite of the financial crises and difficult market condition, was able to establish cooperation with French “Societe Generale”  and “SMBC Europe” banks and to get such a huge loan on beneficial terms.    The article says that this loan will allow Azercosmos to purchase “Arien-5” rocket from the “Arianespace” company.

 “Such loans are given on beneficial terms in order to provide support to rapidly developing countries, which poses high economic potential”.   It was mentioned in the article that earlier Azerkosmos obtained $116,6 mln. loan from the “BNP Paribas” bank to cover the expenses connected with the construction of the satellite. The loan was backed with a guarantee from Export-Import Bank of United States.

“The fact that the Azerbaijani Government acts as the main sponsor of this loan indicates the importance of this strategic project”. Information about rewards for the best contracts of the year may be obtained via the following internet link:

http://www.transactionservices.citigroup.com

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